PDA

View Full Version : Health & Workout Questions


suddenImpact
May 23, 2007, 12:04 PM
I'm 23, and had a desk job for the last 5 years. Being so busy, I've found that I almost always go out to eat. In the last 5 years, I've put on 60lbs (bringing me from 135 to 195lbs.), and recently had a good scare, I ended up going to the doctor and having a bunch of tests done, because they thought I had a heart attack. I was having really sharp pains in the upper left part of my chest and I couldn't breath, after going to and from the hospital several times, they can not find a cause. So anyway, I'm now trying to get back into shape. I've been watching what I eat a lot more, and I joined a gym.

I'm really worried about working too hard since I've done very little to exercise in the last few years. Every time I go, I start with free weights, for half an hour or so, then I move to the Cardio room, and get on a machine in there. It has the ability to set how long you want to work out, your age weight etc. I try to go for 10-15 minutes at a time, my concern though, is that after about 2 minutes, it starts beeping and tells me that I've reached my desired heart rate of 175. I keep going, but keep an eye on it, one time I've had it get just over 200. After a long story (sorry) I guess my questions are, am I working too hard to start? Should I stop when my heart rate gets to a certain point (what is the limit)?

Thanks for your help!

tickle
May 23, 2007, 01:41 PM
Absolutely stop when you have reached the maximum heart rate.

As for your chest pain, well, it may not have been a heart attack, because it would have been radiating pain, tightness in the throat, pain to your arms, that is a heart attack.

How about your blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. are they within normal ranges ?

suddenImpact
May 24, 2007, 05:40 AM
With all the times I had to go to the doctor for them to do tests on my heart, there was only one time they told me I had high blood pressure, every other time they said it was normal. I have never had my cholesterol or anything checked.

What would be the maximum heart rate? The machine I work out on just says I've reached the desired heart rate.

Thanks for the reply!